Grenade



p L 1942- L. M. McBRIDE 2,294,415

GRENADE Filed Dec. 2, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. 2 FIG. 3

INVENIOR.

Lewis MMcBrLdea 7 BY $01032 ATTORNEY Sept. 1, 1942. L. M. MCBRIDEGRENADE Filed Dec. 2, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. BY Lewis MMcBr-ZdeATTORNEY Patented Set. 1,1942

car-mam: Lewis M. McBride, Edgewood Arsenal, Md.

Application December 2,1938, Serial No, 243,526

(Granted, under the m of March 3, 1883, as.

amendedApril 80, 1928; 370 0.0:. 757) 2 ('llaims.

temporarily incapacitate rioters or law-breakers without permanentinjury.

Modern law-enforcement ofllcers frequently resort to the use of theso-called tear gases, sneeze gases or sickening gases in order to subduerioters or law-breakers. However, the munitions heretofore available todisperse these irritant chemicals are objectionable, in that theyfrequently result in permanent injury or even death.

The usual agents now used for the above purposes are chloracetophenone,commonly calledtear gas, and briefly designated CN; and diphenylaminechlorarsine, commonly called sneeze gas or sickening gas, and brieflydesignated DM. CN and DM are both normally solid materials which are notsoluble in water but are soluble in some solvents. In order to dispersethese agents into the air so that they will affect the eyes or breathingpassages, it has been the usual practice to provide a burning type ofgrenade or candle in which the chemical agent is mixed with gun powderand the agent is thermally dispersed as the powder burns: or the agentis dissolved in a liquid which vaporizes; or the solid agent is packedin an explosive weapon around an explosive charge and the charge breaksup the agentand disperses it.

These methods all have serious disadvantages. The burning type ofmunition requires a large amount of fuel or combustion material inproportion to the chemical agent, and requires careful compounding,mixing, and loading in order to prevent explosion of the grenade.Furthermore, this burning type munition requires an appreciable time todisperse the agent, which allows those against whom the grenade is usedto move to windward of the smoke, or to throw the grenade back towardthe law ofl'lcers. Dispersion by vaporization of a solvent is alsowasteful in 'requiring a large amount of material which has noirritanteifect, and requiresa pressure apparatus or explosive charge. Grenadesor other weapons depending upon an explosive charge are dangerous andexpensive to make, and efiective dispersion requires a heavy explosivecharge whichlruptures or fragments the metal container and sometimescauses serious injury or death.

One object of the present invention therefore is a grenade having theabove advantages and which is safe to manufacture and use, and which canbe produced and sold at a small cost.

These and other objects will be apparent from the following descriptionand claims when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings,wherein-- Figure 1 is a central section of one form of the inventionFigure 2 is a central section of another embodiment;

Figure 3 is an end elevation of Figure 2;

Figures 4 and 5am side and end elevations of' the fuse and igniter ofFigure 2;

Figure 6 is a central section of another embodiment.

Figure 7 is a detail in section of the pull-wire fuse lighter.

This invention comprises in general a nondangerous fragmentingcontainer, one or more irritant or disabling chemical agents in a finelydivided stabilized solid form, a suitably proportioned explosive chargefor instantaneous dispersion of the agent, and means for igniting theexplosive charge.

As previously stated, the known irritant or disabling chemical agentssuch as chloracetophenone, diphenylamine chlorarsine, diphenylchlorarsine, and capsaicin are normally solids. "If these materials areground to powdered form by the usual methods, the particles willcoalesce and form large lumps. erefore, these larger particles and lumpsmay ot be eifectvely dispersed into the atmosphere, ce the irritantparticles must float in the air to orm an efiective concentration. I amenabled to use the simplegrenades of my present invention, however,since it is possible to obtain the normally solid chemical agents in aflnely pulverized state wherein each particle is stabilized againstcoalescence with adjacent particles. This is accomplished by grindingand stabilizing one or more of the for "Method of disintegration,dispersion, stabilization, and collection of solid materials."

Referring now to Figure 1, the grenade body I is a cylinder formed ofheavy paper, card board, fiber board, cellulose derivative, plastic orsimilar easily rupturable material, which, however, will not fragmentinto dangerous rigid parts. Preferably the container I is made ofprocessed paper such as is commonly used to pack ice cream. The bottom 2and top 3 may be telescoped within or without the container I. Withinthe container, the flnely ground and stabilized irritant chemical d isplaced, and surrounding a bursting charge ll of explosive. Charge I hasa time fuse 8 connected thereto which extends through an opening at oneside of top 3 and terminates in a match head 9.

An outer cover II which telescopes over the container I has a matchscratcher I2 on its inner surface, so arranged that when the cover II isrotated it will engage and ignite match head 9. Cover I I is preventedfrom accidental rotation by a strip of adhesive tape I3 or by any othermeans, such as glue.

When the device is to be used the tape I3 is torn off and cover II isrotated to ignite match head 9 which in turn starts the short time fuse8. This fuse is selected to give sufiicient delay to allow the grenadeto be thrown and to reach its target. Usually about a 4 to 6 second fuseis sufficient. When the explosive charge I is fired, the fine powder 4is dispersed in all directions in the air and will float and form anintolerable concentration for many minutes. There are no metal, wood, orother parts capable of producing injurious fragments in this grenade.

. An explosive charge is selected which will completely shatter thepaper container, and yet this charge is not sufficiently heavy to causeinjury even if the grenade bursts while being picked up.

Referring to Figures 2 to 5, the cylindrical body It is formed ofmaterials described in connection with Figure 1 and has telescoped lowercover I and upper cover I 6. Within the container, the stabilizedpowdered chemical agent I! is placed, within which is the explosivecharge I8.

Charge I8 and attached fuse I9 are secured together as illustrated inFigures 4 and 5. The fuse I9 is first covered with a layer of adhesivetape or the like, and several concentric layers are wrapped around itsouter end to form a snug fit into the open end of the fuse lighter 2|.

Lighter 2| is a rigid tube preferably of cardboard having a smallopening extending its full length and containing a fuse igniting powdersuch as flash powder. The fuse i9 is then bent back on itself as seen inFigure 4 and the fuse lighter 2| is secured to explosive charge I8 as bya strip of adhesive tape. The outer end of fuse lighter 2| is flattenedas seen in Figure 5 and the assembly is arranged angularly in containerI4, as shown in Figure 2.

The outer end of lighter 2| is in communication with a hole 22 in coverI6 and a pull wire 23 extends through opening 22 into lighter 2|.Opening 22 is normally sealed against moisture,

- by wax, paraffin or similar sealing means, Wire 23 is secured to ametal pull ring 24 which normally rests flat against cover I6, beingsecured in such position by adhesive tape or glue. The container I4 isthen filled with the finely pulverized and stabilized irritant agents I!such as ON or DM or other agents or mixtures thereof.

When this grenade is to be used, the ring 24 is pulled off, thus causingwire 23 to ignite the powder in lighter 2|. This in turn ignites fuse I9which ignites charge I8 after a known time interval. Upon explosion ofcharge I8 the container I4 is completely ruptured and the irritantpowder I1 is widely dispersed. Due to the fact that the irritant is invery fine powder form, it floats for many minutes and forms aninstantaneous intolerable concentration for many minutes. There are noparts of the grenade when thrown which can cause serious injury, sincethe paper or cardboard is shattered, the metal ring 24 and wire 23 beingpulled off.

It is well known that a time fuse must be vented to the atmosphere toprevent excessive powder gas pressure from shortening the time ofburning.

This is accomplished in my grenade. since the gases from fuse I9 maypass up tube 2| and out of hole 22 in cover I6, since wire 23 isremoved. A further and important advantage of this construction is thatpremature explosion of the grenade by flashing past or around the timefuse is prevented. By my arrangement the firing device on' wire 23 andthe powder train in tube 2| are not in alignment with explosive chargeI8. Therefore no flame can be communicated to charge I8 except byburning of fuse I9. Furthermore, space in the container is conserved,and any desired length of fuse may be used.

Figure 6 illustrates a spherical grenade which may be readily andaccurately thrown, The container, made of materials such as heretoforedescribed, comprises two semi-spherlcal portions 25 and 26 telescopedand sealed together as at 21. Portion 26 has a depression 28 toaccommodate ring with attached wire 3|. Wire 3| passes through a hole inportion 26 to firing tube 32, fuse 33, and charge 34, arranged aspreviously described. The powdered irritant 35 surrounds charge 34.

Referring to Figure '7, numerals I9, 2| and 23 are shown therein as inFigure 4; and 22 is as shown in Figure 3. The pull-wire 23 passes fromthe exterior through the hole 22 into the interior of the lighter. Inthe interior of the lighter, the pull-wire passes axially of the lighterthrough a flash-powder or match mix 36 positioned in a cup 38 and endsin a corrugated and coated portion 40. In operation the pull-wire 23 ispulled so that the coated and corrugated portion 40 passes through theflash-powder or match mix 36, igniting the latter. The flame istransmitted to the fuse I9. When this pull-wire is pulled, a seal isbroken and a vent is formed at the prevlously sealed hole 22. Theconstruction of the fuse lighter is similar to that of the fuse primerof Woodbury of record, and no claim is made to the igniter per. se'.

All chemical agents coming within the scope of the use of thisinvention, which are normally solid substances, can be so finely dividedand permanently stabilized in such subdivided condition as to be highlyeffective as irritants, thereby requiring only sufflcient explosiveforce necessary to project them into the atmosphere.

The invention is not limited to the specific details of constructionshown herein by way of illustration since various changes may be madetherein by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit ofthe invention nor exceeding the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

l. A grenade comprising a hollow closed container of destructible andreadily rupturable material, and having an aperture in the wall thereof,a dispersible charge of powdered, normally solid irritant chemicalwarfare agent of a character temporarily incapacltating butnon-injurious to persons, and with the particles thereof stabilizedagainst coalescence, substantially completely filling said container; anexplosive charge, a time fuse, and a fuse igniter, respectively,embedded in the dispersible charge; said explosive charge and fuseigniter being disposed laterally and out of alignment relative to oneanother, and said fuse having one end thereof connected to one end ofthe fuse igniter and an opposite end connected to said explosive charge;and said fuse igniter embodying a tubular part having a through borealigned with the aforementioned aperture in the wall of the container,and a pullwlre extended from said tubular part and ugh the wallaperture, said wall aperture and said pull-wire being of such diametersthat the pull-Wire substantially normally seals the aperture, and saidpull-wire being adapted for manipulation to ignite the fuse andsubstantially simultaneously with such ignition to break the seal forventing the fuse through the aligned bore and aperture.

2. A grenade comprising acontainer of destructible and readilyrupturable material, a dispersible charge in the form of a normallysolid irritant chemical warfare'agent selected from the group consistingof chloracetophenone (tear gas) and diphenylamine chlorarsine (sneezegas) and having the particles thereof stabilized against coalescence,substantially filling said container; an explosive charge, a. timefuse,, and a fuse igniter, respectively, embedded in the dispersiblecharge with the fuse connected at one end to the explosive charge and atan opposite end connected to the fuse igniter; and said fuse ignlterembodying a pull ignition wire sealed through the Wall of said containerand accessible exteriorly of the latter for manipulation tosubstantially simultaneously ignite the fuse and break the seal toprovide' an open vent for'the fuse.,

LEVJIS M. MCBRIDE.

